PISCATAWAY -- Rutgers coach Kyle Flood wants to make it clear: his defense that yielded 532 passing yards to Washington State needs to play better.

"Do we need to continue to make improvements in the secondary? We do,'' Flood said after reviewing the film of the Scarlet Knights' 41-38 victory late Thursday night in Seattle.

But Flood isn't close to hitting the panic button yet. On the heels of allowing the most passing yards in school history last season, Flood expected his defense to yield yardage against coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense, which, he said, "throws the ball systematically as well as any team in the country.''

"With that style of offense and the lack of emphasis on the run game, I think the passing yards are going to be inflated,'' Flood said Friday during his day-after-game teleconference with the media. "I think that's just the reality of it. I think you see it all over the country with different teams that are trying to defend that style of offense.

"Do I think we can play better in the secondary, I do. Do I think in some ways did we make some improvements from last year? I think we did. I think that's a very explosive offense we played against. But I did see us make some plays on the ball that we didn't make last year. I'm excited about that.''

Flood singled out the play of Justin Goodwin, who earned the start at cornerback despite having less than two weeks of practice on defense after converting from running back late in training camp.

"It was good to see Justin Goodwin get an interception,'' Flood said. "Can Justin Goodwin play better, there's no doubt he's going to play better as he continues to gain more and more experience at that position. We're not going to see that style of offense again for a little bit. In some ways, is that going to help us? Yeah, I think that'll help us.''

While Connor Halliday set the record for most passing yards in a game against Rutgers, the Gary Nova-engineered offense countered with enough big plays to secure a win that could go a long way toward building early-season momentum.

"All the good football teams that I've ever been a part of at one point in the year have to win a game that's like the one last night and are also going to have to win a game that's a significantly less high-scoring game,'' Flood said. "That's just the nature of a football season. I think when you win a game like we did last night, it's easy to point to the offense and the run game. ... But you can also point to some big plays defensively and on special teams that help you win the game. Really it takes all three sides to win a football game regardless of what the score indications.''

Flood was pleased with an offense that was fueled by Nova's 281-yard, two-touchdown passing effort, Paul James' 173-yard, three TD rushing performance and Leonte Carroo's six receptions for 151 yards.

"I think we can play a lot better,'' Flood said. "I think there's going to be a lot of things we can look at on film where the players are going to (say), 'Wow, we were effective and we scored 41 points and we ran the ball well. We had some decent yards passing it, but we really had a lot more opportunities than that.' I'm not disappointed by that because they've got a good football team, too.

"But to me, that's exciting when I look at the film as say not only were we effective, but we could be more effective, that tells me we have a chance to make a big improvement here from Game 1 to Game 2.''

Flood, whose team will enjoy a day off Saturday before returning to practice Sunday in preparations for its home opener Sept. 6 against FCS-foe Howard, was satisfied with Nova's performance.

"I think from an operational standpoint, he played very well,'' Flood said. "Very few mental errors in the game. The way he operated was excellent. I think he can throw the ball better. hat, to me, is the thing I took away from it after I watched the film on offense. This applies to Gary, and really applies to everybody on offense.''

"I think this year's version of Gary is different from the past,'' Flood said. "The things he's gone through the last two years have strengthened him. I think he's worked exceptionally hard to become a better player, a better leader and a better quarterback, and have a better relationship with everybody in the organization.

"All those things, when you work really hard and you have a game like we did when it's an emotional game and we come behind in the fourth quarter win that game. That game had all the ebbs and flows of a really fine college football game. I think when you the emotional out-pouring at the end of it, really it's the result of all the hard work that went into it over the last, really, three years of his career.''

-- Flood, too, displayed a range of emotions in the aftermath of leading his team to its third win in five games against major-conference opponents in his tenure.

"The enjoyment that I get at the end of a game when we win is derived almost entirely from watching the reaction of the players,'' Flood said. "I think to me that is really the greatest bonus of doing I do for a living, is you get a chance to be around young people and help them experience some of the goals and some of the dreams in their lives. To go on the road and win a game like that against a really fine Pac-12 football team, we knew what the challenges were when we went out there. To see the looks on the faces of the players, that's really where I get all my enjoyment.''

-- Dre Boggs, a freshman cornerback who had been running with the first-team defense before a lower-body injury sidelined him for a week in training camp, saw action on special teams but didn't play on defense because, Flood said, "he’s just not quite 100 percent just yet.''

"I think, going forward, you’re going to see Dre play more and more as the year goes on,'' Flood said.

-- Flood figured opposing defenses would make it an emphasis to limit Tyler Kroft after the tight end enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last fall, and that's exactly what Washington State did Thursday night in holding Kroft without a reception.

But Flood said the attention WSU paid to Kroft opened up opportunities for John Tsimis (who had three catches for 40 yards and a fourth-quarter TD) and Janarion Grant (four receptions for 48 yards) to make an impact.

"In the passing game, it's not easy to say we're going to throw it to this guy ... because the coverages that the teams use really dictate where the ball goes,'' Flood said. "I think it was really just dictated by the types of coverages that they were using (on Kroft). That doesn’t surprise me. People are talking about Tyler Kroft and people are going to be very aware of where he is on the field. It's certainly not a de-emphasis on our part because Tyler's a big weapon for us. But teams are more conscious of him now so there are going to be things that are going to open things up.''